Mass. bill would create acupuncture commission and require insurers to cover specified acupuncture care

A bill reported favorably by the Massachusetts House Committee on Financial Services would create a Commission on Acupuncture and Wellness and require a wide range of health plans to cover acupuncture and oriental-medicine-based diagnosis and treatment for pain management, post‑traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse treatment and nausea.

The measure, filed as House Bill No. 4548 and accompanied by a committee report dated Sept. 29, 2025, directs the Department of Public Health to house the commission, defines its membership and duties, and amends multiple chapters of the General Laws to add mandatory coverage requirements for private and public plans.

Under the bill the commission would include the commissioner of public health (or a designee) as chair; the commissioner of insurance (or designee); the director of MassHealth (or designee); a representative of the board of registration in medicine (or designee); the senate and house chairs of the Joint Committee on Public Health; a representative of a statewide organization of licensed acupuncturists; a representative of a statewide organization of medical acupuncturists; a representative of the Massachusetts Public Health Association; and five governor appointees that must include at least two licensed and practicing acupuncturists, a representative of one of the top five health insurers in the state by market share, a health care consumer organization representative, and a currently practicing licensed physician.

The commission is charged with making a comprehensive study of whether and how acupuncture services could be better integrated into health care delivery in Massachusetts with particular attention to interventions in pain management, substance abuse treatment and wellness promotion. It must consider strategies to integrate acupuncture into alternative payment models (including accountable care organizations and workplace wellness programs) and evaluate reimbursement strategies to support stable integration of licensed acupuncturists into the broader system.

The bill requires the commission to submit a report to the secretary of health and human services and to the Joint Committee on Public Health six months after the act’s effective date and annually thereafter. The content must include the commission’s findings and any recommended legislation to implement those findings.

Separately, the bill inserts new sections into Chapter 175 and related insurance chapters to require that blanket or general policies, certain accident or sickness policies, employers’ health and welfare funds, hospital service plans, subscription certificates and group health maintenance contracts provide benefits for acupuncture and oriental-medicine-based diagnosis and treatment for the four listed conditions (pain management, PTSD, substance abuse treatment and nausea). The bill also adds a statutory requirement that the insurance commissioner shall not approve a policy under the relevant statutory provision unless it provides those benefits.

Chapter 32A would be amended to require that the Group Insurance Commission provide the same acupuncture and oriental-medicine benefits to active and retired commonwealth employees insured under the GIC.

The bill also contains an explicit reimbursement-parity provision stating that no third‑party payer shall differentiate reimbursement rates for acupuncture services by provider type; and it limits reimbursement to licensed acupuncturists or medical doctors.

The committee cover page accompanying the bill indicates that the Committee on Financial Services "reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4548) ought to pass." The document does not include a committee vote tally or the legislature’s final action on the bill.

The bill was filed Sept. 19, 2025, and carried forward with the committee report dated Sept. 29, 2025. Final passage, implementation dates and budgetary impacts are not specified in the document.

If enacted, the measure would require rulemaking and implementation steps by the Department of Public Health, the insurance commissioner and plan administrators to update covered benefits and claims‑payment processes.